Petroleum-distilling apparatus.



R. B. HUMPHREYS. v PETROLEUM DISTILLING- APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 1 11111111 s.

LAQQQOQ, Patented Dec.22,1914..

&

T'I'TTTT'I'TTTT'E'FTFT fazerzzze 17206722 07." m z d,

ROBERT E- HUMEHREYS- or VJHITING, whi s. s eNQe r coins-any, or wairrne. INDIANA, a CORPORATION OF marina.

assessment-mealt me. nee

wash

Bpeelfica-tion of Letterefiatent.

evs.

Patented Dec, 11.4.

applipatgen filed Jane 14, 1913 Serial r10. 773,759.

M 4 11. W am? ay coat m:

earns. a e t ee 6f h Un ed a s siding a Whitin in he QDIIZIW of La and ate of Indians, h e nve ted a ne and -lse ul lmpr 'emeat is P ro eu -D Bill ng Appa at s o W eh the win is a seecifieeti n,

Myn n qn el tes o a m veme a th s i l Qf pe m n-d til ins ep- Be t lei a t t Re iant HUM-- .uer tus, li e I ha e e s d, o e m diately, fer he ppar e p oyed in p a tising the process of manufacturing gasolene Set. forth in United States Letters anted Janua y 19 3, to W. MyBur en- In commercially practising the aforesaid process on a large scale, wherein the capacity of the stilland the quantity of the material treated therein is several thousand gallons, it is found that the accumulation of carbon on the still bottom precludes conducting the run long enough to convert into gasol'ene more than about one-third of the material contained in the still. This is because the carbon, being a good insulator of heat, becomes red hot and if the run were continued, would soon burn through the bottom of the still, besides tending to retard the progress of distillation.

The primary object of my invention is to prolong the run to an extent that will enable, say, two-thirds, more or less, of the still-contents to be converted into gasolene without incurring the objectionable consequences referred to, and this I accomplish. by the means illustrated in the accompanym drawing, in whichigure 1 is a transverse section through a still provided with my improvement, and Fig. 2 is a plan section of abroken portion of the same on line 3, Fig. 1.

In the still, 4, and preferably along --diametrically-opposite points therein, ex-

tend pintle-rods 14, 14, reaching approximately to the ends of its cylindrical section. Onthese opposite rods .are hinged, at their outer ends, concavo-convex plate-sections 15 to. form a series thereof along each rod, op- ,osite sections, or members of the series, reeasably interlocking at their inner ends, as by means of a hooked edge 16 formed along each section of one series and a hooked edge 17 along each section of the other series, to form a plate covering, and conforming at vto permit access to the bottom 0 for the same purpose. After a run of the other, lengthwise of the ed e s-teati he qu c nhe u v d shap (I tents of t y e stil'l'to circulate freely therein,

in boiling, in contact with the upper and lower plate-surfaces. Hooks 18 are shown to depend in two series inside the still along the central portion of its top'to engage the hooks on the respective sections when they are raised, and hold them up when it is desired to clean 01117,. from the still, any accumulation of free carbon beneath them. It is desirable to provide at least two sets of h se p at s, an a s d set is she pended to extend over the lower set already described, and is formed, like the latter, of in e l ck ng ct ons 1.5, these ect ons. ing hinged'along their outer edges on the pintles 14 in a manner to alternate their hinge-knuckles with those of the lower set, and being adapted to be held in their raised positions by hooks 18.

In the operation of the still, the liquidhydrocarbon contents being boiled by the heat from the furnace, circulate freely about the plates and over their upper and lower surfaces, upon which the carbon, produced by the aforesaid reaction, forms for the most part, and in comparatively small quantity, producing a mere film. The primary purpose of forming the plates of adjustable sections is to adapt them to be raised out of the way to permit access to the lowermost for removing the carbon formed upon it after removing that which has similarly formed on the upper late, and

f the still apparatus, or when the accumulations of carbon render it desirable, the still is opened and the carbon formed on the upper plate is brushed off and taken out through the man-hole, whereupon the sections 15' are raised and locked in the raised position, and they bottom surfaces of the raised sections and top-surface of the lower plate are cleaned; then the sections 15 are raised and their lower surfaces are cleaned the top surface of "the following claims to claim protection upon all the novelty there may be in my invention as broadly as the state of the art will permit. v

' What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. In an apparatus of the character d'escribed, the combination with a still, of a plurality of plate= extending therein one over the other and spaced apart and from the still-bottom, said plates forming sp'acesfor the circulation about and over them of the still-contents undergoing distillation.

In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a still, of adjustable plate-forming sections extending therein over and spaced from the still-bottom, and forming spaces for the circulation about and over them of the still-contents undergoing distillation.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a still, of a plate extending therein over and spaced from the still-bottom and comprising sections hinged inthe still to its opposite sides to meet at their inner edges and provided with releasable means for interlocking them in their meeting position.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination witha still, of a plate extending therein over and spaced from the still-bottom, and comprising series of sections hinged at their outer edges in the still to its opposite sides to meet at their inner edges, and provided on said inner edges with hooks for releasably interlocking them in their meeting position.

5. In an apparatus of thecharacter described, the combination with a still, of pintles extending along its opposite inner sides, curved plate-sections having knuckles on their outer edges at which they are hinged on the pintles and adapted to meet at their inner edges'in their plate-forming relation, hooks on the inner edges of said sections for releasably locking them in said relation, and

' hooks depending in the'still from its top- I portion in position to engage with the hooks on said sections to hold them when raised.

ROBERT E. HUMPHREYS.

In presence of- L. HEISLAR. A. C. FISCHER. 

